Defibrillators were pressed onto GalvanGal’s chest. She was shocked awake and gripped the arms of the technician before they could move. She released her grip when she came to her senses.
She was in a tent. She came out to see that it was one amongst many. They must have set these up to take care of all the injured that could not fit in the prison clinic. It was just like the day of the bombing. If it was like that here, then it must have been the same at every other prison too. Do the hospitals even have the capacity to deal with that many?
An air force officer came to bring her up to speed. The inmate from the fire station is the one who told them she just needed a jolt to get back up. The immortals she neutralized had been captured, and all the prison riots were subdued though the casualties were as high as she feared.
She, and the rest of the mutants, would be transported to March Air Reserve Base where the rest of the Pantheon would be arriving. Aaliyah’s healing would be needed to hold over the injured during the long wait times, but WhiteOut insisted that she and Garrick be here to manage the situation. Delsin Rowe and Philip Benz were in custody, and she would be riding the same truck as them for the next three hours.
“What a privilege,” said Delsin through his broken nose and missing teeth, and with his arms weighed down by the radometer cuffs, “thanks to chondroma here, we get to be road trip buddies.”
“If I didn’t surrender, they would have shot us,” said Philip.
“Better than being here.”
“Oh, I agree,” said GalvanGal as the truck started moving, “but after this, we won’t have to see each other ever again.”
“Really, what makes you think you won’t join us if your boss doesn’t need you anymore?” asked Delsin.
“Because I’m not a mass murderer.”
“That never stopped them before. That’s why we had to free every prisoner in Tartarus.”
“Then why kill these prisoners? Why force them to kill each other?”
“Because I’m good at it. The rest already wanted to kill each other, that’s why we had to thin the herd.”
“Thin the herd? Do you hear yourself? You were an inmate once, too.”
“That’s how I know we ain’t losing much. This was their second chance at life, anyone who doesn’t take it is better off dead.”
“Do you feel the same way?” she asked Philip. He turned his head away.
“I just followed what Tyler told me to do. If it’s him, then it must be for the best. That’s all I know,” said Philip.
“Would killing me also be for the best?” asked Hannah. He clenched his jaw as he avoided looking at her.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Oh yeah! You’re childhood friends!” said Delsin, “you should give pointers to Todd about killing. Maybe it’ll get him to stop angsting over it.”
“I don’t know,” said Philip, ignoring Delsin, “He knows you better than I do. He knows a lot more than me because I don’t know anything. Now more than ever. I tried to figure out stuff on my own but it never worked out. So I just followed orders.”
“I guess I can understand that. The world is a complicated place, and it only gets more complicated. That’s why I can only rely on what my heart is telling me. Right now it’s telling me that he is not being himself now. I’m sure your heart is telling you the same thing, isn’t it?”
“All this magic stuff is going over my head, but that’s why I just listen to what he says to do. Besides, it's not like it would be better if I didn’t. Without him, I would just be another prisoner in Tartarus. The same goes for you, doesn’t it?”
“If he planned this from the beginning, then he wouldn’t have let me live a normal life. He definitely wouldn’t have left it to chance for me to join the Pantheon. That’s why I want answers for him, and I’ll do what my instincts tell me to until then.”
“I guess that is weird. And he did start involving kids… but I just thought it was part of the change in circumstances.”
“What are those circumstances?”
“We’re supposed to be building up new cities hell. Once the Earth is pacified, the gang members and children will populate those cities.”
“Cities like Arx Horatius?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that for the best?”
“It’s better than being here. I know that.”
“Even for the dead here?”
“No, not for the children in the orphanage either,” interrupted Delsin. “But that’s war, no use bellyaching about it.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” said GalvanGal.
“You’re right. The nations of the world could submit to the new order. But they would never abdicate willingly, which is why our master will beat them into submission. If only they were open to reasonable negotiation.”
“You never tried negotiation! You never tried anything else! You’re the ones who wanted to start a war!”
“We didn’t try. But there were many others who pleaded, protested, and litigated for the freedom of mutants to no avail. The majority ignored them in the name of comfort and security. Why should they listen, when they benefit from the way things already are? It’s the same story in many places. Everyone loves war and domination when they think they can win. It’s only when they start losing that they start believing in peace and negotiation, which is why the boss is doing this in the first place.
Besides, it’s not like you were going to try anything. You had all the power in the world but you sat by and let other people suffer. I’m not just talking about muties either. No wonder, the boss didn’t consider you.”
“I couldn’t reveal myself.”
“Or what? The tin man would stop you? No, he’s not a threat to you. It’s the public that you were worried about. You needed his approval so that you could get social approval; you don’t care about peace or justice, you just wanted to be famous.”
“That’s enough, man,” said Philip.
“What? I’m just telling the truth!”
“You can barely breathe with your nose capsized. Just save it.”
“He’s right,” said GalvanGal, “I held back because I was scared of how my life would change. Even with the Pantheon I just went along with what I was told. Now that I’ve seen what will happen if I don’t act…
I’m not scared anymore.”